Tyson Fury has come a long way from where he was just three years ago. The first McDermott fight was the turning point of his career. Fury was just a tall hw with the skill level of a Tye Fields; he was a big guy with good power but bad technique and he looked like a KO waiting to happen.

McDermott was his real first test and IMO Fury was lucky to get the decision (the ref was the only judge). To my recollection, It was back and forth action with both guys being hurt and Fury essentially gassing out halfway through the fight.

Since that fight Tyson Fury has improved in every aspect of his game. This guy has genuine skills now - he uses his long reach, he has very good movement and footwork, he occasionally changes from orthodox to southpaw and throws nice combinations. His stamina and conditioning have greatly improved as well and as we saw last night, he easily went 12 rounds - he threw (and landed) a lot of punches and he peddled around the ring a lot.

Having said that, there has been mention of him facing Vitali Klitschko (the Johnson fight may or may not have been an eliminator, it's not clear) if the elder Klitschko brother does not retire. And frankly, I like this fight...

Vitali is past his prime, is up there in age and he looked somewhat vulnerable in his last fight.

Stylistically this is great fight. Both guys are physically gifted, height and long reach make them both rangy. Vitali likes keep his hands low and uses his spacing to get in/out of punching range. Vitali has clubbing like punches and packs good power. Fury keeps a high guard (some of time) and likes to throw straight one-twos down the pipe coupled with occasional body shots. Fury likes to move side-to-side and he switches to southpaw to add an extra element to his offense.

Right now I could see a scenario where Fury upsets Klitschko. Fury has pretty good endurance and stamina and his workrate is pretty high for a hw. He's not a one punch knockout artist, he throws a lot of jab and right hands and once he gets into his rhythm he throws some good combinations. Vitali is past his prime and getting up there in years and he might be prone to being outworked.

What are your thoughts/ opinions/ predictions?...

I agree with all you said apart from the bolded...

Im not sure if it was because of the fast start but he looked pretty tired in the second half of the fight until the last couple rounds he seemed to wake up. It was probably hidden by the fact that Johnson didnt punch at all, but i think maybe fury would be better served starting slower and coming on strong later. Reckon he could have stopped/hurt Johnson late in the fight if he had.

I need to watch the fight again maybe as i was drunk when watching it but thats what i thought i saw!

Fury is poor but even he would look better against his last few opponents Rogan was a old retired Taxi driver who had lost his last 2 fights, Maddalone is just a club fighter that no fighter on the cusk of World title fights should be in the ring with and Johnson is just a heavybag with eyes. First time he gets in the ring with anyone decent he is gonna get badly exposed. David Price will destroy him inside of 3 rounds if Tyson ever gets the balls to get in the ring with him.

i choose vitali decision only coz of the german judges,fury has improved loads but i only give him a chance as many of you guys say coz of vitalis age,its furys ring generalship that has impressed me most i cant imagine how much sparring hes done to improve like he has done,i still take pricey anyday of the week though.